MERCEDES AMG PETRONAS began the second in-season test of 2014 at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya today, with Lewis Hamilton taking the wheel of the F1 W05 Hybrid for the first of two days' running in Barcelona this week. Lewis' best time of 1:26.674 from 79 laps put him third on the time sheets.

Today's programme began with control systems evaluation in damp conditions before the break
Afternoon running focused on setup, engine management and aero evaluations in addition to practice starts
Pirelli's wet and intermediate tyres were used in the morning, the medium compound dry tyres in the afternoon
Lewis emerged for his first run at 09:00 local time, completing 27 laps in the morning and 52 laps in the afternoon
Mercedes-Benz Power Units today completed a total of 1215 km between all teams
Nico Rosberg will take the wheel of the F1 W05 Hybrid for the second and final day of the test tomorrow.

Lewis Hamilton
Today was a pretty normal test day. We completed a lot of practice starts and tried a few different things with the car during the afternoon once the track dried out a bit. Of course, test days aren't as much fun as a race but it's part of the job. It's important for the team and it's also been productive for me in terms of getting the car where I want it after struggling at times last weekend. Conditions were obviously very different but we got some dry running in and I felt happier with the car by the end of the day. Every lap you do in the car you learn a little bit more and these in-season tests are useful given the limited running time we have. Although we have a good advantage right now, the moment we stand still our rivals will be ready to pounce so we have to stay on our toes at all times. I've got a busy week leading up to Monaco but I'll be doing some work back at the factory before that weekend. It's a massively demanding circuit and with the oversteer moments created by the extra torque from the cars this year we'll have to watch our proximity to the walls much more closely. Every driver loves going to Monaco and I'm aiming to keep up the positive momentum from the last four races.